ScrippsRN

I was assaulted and spit in the face/eyes by a patient last night, but couldn't leave the floor to go to the ED, because there was no one to cover my patients. Finally, after asking my charge nurse/supervisor 3 times, I was allowed to go to the ED 4 1/2 hours after the event. The ED staff was mortified and said that I should have been sent down no later then 2 hours after the exposure. I plan on writing an occurrence report, but am concerned that I will be retaliated against for exposing the fact that the nursing supervisor and house supervisor either don't know or don't care about exposure procedures. What's the best way of going about reporting this?

Best of luck, you will do fantastic! I graduated from Excelsior College in 2002, and it was the best and only option for me. Getting through the program shows that you have discipline and dedication. I will send my prayers your way.

Hi there, I moved to Bakersfield to work at NKSP-RC in Delano. It was the worst experience that I've ever had, and I'm a tough cookie. The area is sketchy, ugly,and crime ridden. The job was easy, but the SRN's are very unprofessional, unethical, and try and threaten your licence on a regular basis(at NKSP). The DON was "transferred" because of repeated sexual harassment, and the correctional staff does not like the medical staff because they think we are overpaid. As a result, I was left alone in rooms with inmates on a regular basis...... which is a big no-no. I've also worked at WSP-RC. It wasn't nearly as bad and the SRN's were great, but had to work on the yard with the sex offenders. When you work for the prison system, you have no choice in which days and shift you work, and you are likely to be "held over" which means you work 16 hours with no break. It's all based on seniority, and there is a certain group of nurses that have worked/lived in Delano for years. If you are not one of them, you will be alienated, and screwed with on a regular basis. To give you an example, my work schedule was three overnight shifts and two morning shifts. I had Mondays off, but had to sleep from working the night before. My other day off was Thursday. There is a union rule that requires that your days off are consecutive, but somehow they were allowed to schedule me that way. If you want to know the whole story, you are welcome to contact me at my private email address. The money and benefits are great, but it isn't worth it. Sorry to be such a downer. Good luck in your endeavers.